AOS EXPEDITION TO FAIR ISLE 28 SEP - 5 OCT 12

[Wandering Tattler]

The week spent in the Shetland Islands, 6 days on Fair Isle and for most of the expedition an extra day on Shetland Mainland, produced an excellent opportunity to see some of the species typical of the region (ie. Bonxie, Black Guillemot and Rock Dove), subspecies restricted to this region (ie. Shetland Wren, Fair Isle Wren and Shetland Starling), plus a variety of scarce to extremely rare migrant species. Notable species are shown in bold.

Grey Seals were also seen on Fair Isle.

Below is a list of those species seen on Fair Isle and second list of the additional species seen on Shetland Mainland whilst en route:

Fair Isle:

SER COMMON NAME(SCIENTIFIC NAME) REMARKS
1 Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) Very Common
2 Gannet (Morus bassanus) Common
3 Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) Common
4 Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) 3
5 Greylag Goose (Anser anser) Common
6 Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) 2
7 Wigeon (Anas penelope) 6
8 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) Common
9 Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 5
10 Scaup (Aythya marila) 1
11 Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) Common
12 Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) 1
13 Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) Daily
14 Merlin (Falco columbarius) Almost daily
15 Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) 1 caught at the Obs
16 Corncrake (Crex crex) Possible at Leogh
17 Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) Scarce
18 European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) Common
19 Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) Scarce
20 Dunlin (Calidris alpina) Scarce
21 Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minumus) Almost daily
22 Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) Daily
23 Curlew (Numenius arquata) Scarce
24 Redshank (Tringa totanus) Scarce
25 Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) 1
26 Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) Common
27 Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) Common
28 Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) 1
29 Common Gull (Larus canus) Scarce
30 Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) Common
31 Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) Common
32 Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) 2
33 Guillemot (Uria aalge) Common
34 Razorbill (Alca torda) 1
35 Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) Common
36 Rock Dove (Columba livia) Daily
37 Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) 1
38 Collared Dove (Streptopelia dacaoct0) 1
39 Skylark (Alauda arvensis) Common
40 Swallow (Hirundo rustica) Scarce
41 Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi) 1
42 Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) 1
43 Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) Scarce
44 Pechora Pipit (Anthus gustavi) 1
45 Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) Common
46 Rock Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) Common
47 Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens) 1
48 Pied/White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) Scarce
49 Fair Isle Wren (Troglodytes t. fridariensis) Scarce
50 Dunnock (Prunella modularis) Scarce
51 Robin (Erithacus rubecula) Scarce
52 Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) 1
53 Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) 2
54 Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) Scarce (inc Greenland)
55 Blackbird (Turdus merula) Scarce
56 Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) Scarce
57 Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) Common
58 Redwing (Turdus iliacus) Scarce
59 Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) 1
60 Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella certhiola) 1
61 Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata) 1
62 Paddyfield Warbler (Acrocephalus agricola) 1
63 Blyth's Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum) 1
64 Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria) 1
65 Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) Scarce
66 Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) Scarce
67 Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin) 1
68 Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) Scarce
69 Arctic Warbler (Phylloscopus borealis) 1
70 Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) Scarce
71 Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) Scarce
72 Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) Scarce
73 Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) Scarce
74 Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva) 1
75 Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) 1
76 Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) Scarce
77 Raven (Corvus corax) Common
78 Shetland Starling (Sturnus vulgaris zetlandicus) Common
79 House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Common
80 Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) 1
81 Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) Scarce
82 Siskin (Carduelis spinus) 1
83 Twite (Carduelis flavirostris) Common
84 Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) Scarce. Includes Mealy (subsps flammea) and North-Western (subsps rostrata)
85 Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus) Scarce
86 Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) Scarce
87 Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla) 1
88 Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) 1

Additional Species Seen On Shetland Mainland:

SER COMMON NAME(SCIENTIFIC NAME) REMARKS
1 Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata) Olna Firth
2 Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) Olna Firth
3 Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) Olna Firth
4 Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) Loch Spiggie
5 Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) Loch Spiggie
6 Teal (Anas crecca) Shetland Mainland
7 Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) Voe
8 Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) Sumburgh
9 Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) Shetland Mainland
10 American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica) Veensgarth
11 Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) Pool of Virkie
12 Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) Olna Firth
13 Shetland Wren (Troglodytes t. zetlandicus) Shetland Mainland
14 Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus) Hoswick
15 Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) Hestingott
16 Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) Toab
17 Magpie (Pica pica) Shetland Mainland
18 Rook (Corvus frugilegus) Near Veensgarth
19 Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) Hestingott

Additional species were seen by individual members once on the UK Mainland, including Common Scoter, Ptarmigan and Treecreeper.